Case Study 2- Slide 4

Sickle cell disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. If both parents are carriers, there's a 25% chance for the child to have the disease. If one parent has the disease and the other is a carrier, there's a 50% chance for the child to inherit it. If both parents have the disease, all their children will have it. Approximately 100,000 Americans are affected by sickle cell disease. How is sickle cell disease transmitted, and how common is it? Sickle cell disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. Individuals inherit two copies of the abnormal hemoglobin gene, one from each parent, to develop sickle cell disease. If both parents are carriers, there's a 25% chance with each pregnancy for the child to inherit two copies of the abnormal gene and have the disease. If one parent has sickle cell disease and the other is a carrier, there's a 50% chance with each pregnancy for the child to inherit the disease. If both parents have sickle cell disease, all their children will inherit the disease. Sickle cell disease affects approximately 100,000 Americans.